Content addressable memory (CAM) devices are often used in network switching and routing applications to determine forwarding destinations for data packets. A CAM device can be instructed to compare a selected portion of an incoming packet, typically a destination field within the packet header, with data values, called CAM words, stored in an associative storage array within the CAM device. If the destination field matches a CAM word, the CAM device records a CAM index that identifies the location of the matching CAM word within the storage array, and asserts a match flag to signal the match. The CAM index is then typically used to index another storage array, either within or separate from the CAM device, to retrieve a destination address or other routing information for the packet.
Any corruption of CAM words stored within a CAM device (e.g., due to alpha particle bombardment or failure of a storage cell within the CAM device) may result in a false match/non-match determination and ultimately in non-delivery of packets or delivery of packets to an incorrect destination. While it is known to store parity information in the CAM device for error detection purposes, the parity information is generally used to detect errors only when a host device instructs the CAM device to perform a read operation (i.e., output a CAM word). That is, parity checking is not performed during a typical compare operation because the CAM word is usually not read during such an operation. Moreover, any interruption of the normal operation of the CAM device, for example to read CAM words for error detection purposes, reduces the number of timing cycles available for compare operations, effectively lowering the compare bandwidth of the CAM device.